The definition of what it means to be a Florida Gator. Tyler Shelnut embodies the ultimate team player.
Shelnut grew up less than an hour away from the University of Florida, so naturally he grew up a UF fan.
The Lake City native committed to UF in high school, his dream school. But, when COVID-19 hit, things changed. There was no space on the roster for what would be his freshman year. Many players ended up returning to the program, leaving no room on the roster for the incoming class of freshmen.
Johnny Wiggs is the head baseball coach at Santa Fe and a former Gator baseball player, himself.
He had known Shelnut because he was a local kid and “had the privilege to work with him a little bit at the youth camps.”
Wiggs said that he tried not to get too excited at the opportunity of getting Tyler because of the circumstances, but “knew what kind of kid he was getting.”
And that kid was a great competitor and great teammate.
Wiggs talked about how Shelnut never let his situation get in the way of his performance on the field and thought that Shelnut handled it extremely well.
“[I] never saw his mentality affect his playing,” he said.
Shelnut played infield at Santa Fe, primarily second base. He more than excelled there, most notably his sophomore year.
Wiggs said, “[he] made a great jump freshman year to sophomore year.” That became obvious as he tied the Santa Fe program home run record with 19 in his sophomore season.
Because of his continued success, he was offered by UF after his sophomore season at Santa Fe, and he didn’t hesitate to commit.
In his first year as a Gator, his junior year, he played in 53 games, starting in 50. Even though he had primarily been an infielder his career, there was an opportunity in the outfield. Shelnut took advantage of that opportunity and started the final 29 games of the season in the outfield.
He was a key member of the 2023 College World Series team, hitting .277 at 173 at bats and seven home runs.
This year, Shelnut is currently hitting .276 on the season with 10 home runs.
Tuesday night against Jacksonville, he recorded his first career multi-homer game with two. He also had a career-high five RBIs on the night.
First-career multi-homer game for Shelly! #GoGators // 📺 SECN+ pic.twitter.com/bE9vh1yWql
— Florida Gators Baseball (@GatorsBB) April 17, 2024
Shelnut said postgame on his performance and at-bat approach, “…just sticking to your plan, going one pitch to the next, one at-bat to the next, just focusing on the small things that carry over and turn into big things.”
He also spoke on the team’s recent struggles and the significance of every game this season, “…Every game means something, whether its JU on a Tuesday or Vandy on the weekend…you can’t take a day off, you can’t take a pitch off…”
It’s evident as Coach Wiggs said, “He’s a great competitor.”